William w



(No Model.)

W. W. AVERELL.

INSULATING GONDUIT.

No. 348,880. Patented Sept. 7, 1886.

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Nv PETERS, Pboto-ulhognpmr. washington. DJ;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM IIT. AVERELL, OF \VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

iNSULATING-CONDUIT.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 348,880, dated September 7, 1886.

Application filed June Q6, 1885.

vented new and useful Improvements in Insulating-Conduits, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in insulatingconduits for the purpose of trans- Io mitting electrical energy to a motor by which a public conveyance is propelled, or for underground wires, or both; and it is the purpose of my invention to provide simple and ci'licient means for accomplishing suclrresults i 5 without loss ofenergy, except by friction, from the point of its generation to place or places where it is applied.

It is also the purpose of my invention to provide a simple and efficient returu-cireuit,

2c and to prevent the current from being shortcireuited by accident.

Referring to the drawings, Figurel is a transverse vertical section of a road-bed, illustrating one method of applying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame with part of the road-bed removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical crosssection showing a modification.

In the said drawings, the referencenumeral 1 designates the strcetway or that portion of 3o it containing` the road-bed of a street-rail\vay.

The numeral 2 denotes the rails, laid in the usual manner, and in Fig. 2 I have represented a car running upon said rails and driven by an electric motor, 8, which may be of any known or suitable construction.

In order to utilize the electrical energy for propelling ears it is necessary to expose the surface of one side of an electric conductor to the touch of a wheel or brush having `goed 4o conductivity, in order to take up the requisite current for actuating the motor which may be attached to the ear, as shown, or mounted upon a separate truck. When the conductor is used upon a street cf a city or large town,

it is necessary that its insulating-bed should be composed of material suitable for a pavement which will withstand the wear and tear of travel. To obtain practical results from such a system it is a so necessary that the 5o electrical energy, after passing through the motor, should be returned to its source through Serial No. 10QSB?.

(No model.)

a metallic circuit or to the earth. This return may be made through the rails of the road, or in thc manner hereinafter described.

In carrying my invention into operation, I provide a continuous box or open trough, 4, which is placed upon its bottom upon a. wooden stringer, 5, buried in the ground at such dept-h as to leave thc edges of the box flush with the surface of the street or pavement. This box or trough is preferably made of channel-iron, wrough t i nto shape and having suitable iianges, 6, projecting laterally from its bottom', where by it may be spiked or bolted to thc wooden stringer 5. Itis also provided with outwardlyprojecting flanges 7 upon its upper edges for a purpose presently to be described.

In order to give a perfect insulation to the box, vertical wooden planks S are placed upon the stringer 5 near its edges and justoutside the Vflanges 6. These planks are flush with the roadway or pavement, and the space bctween them is filled in with the same insulat ing material used within the trough, and more fully described hereinafter.

Vithin the box or conduit 4 maybe arranged any suitable number of separate convduetors, 9-such as electriemotor, electrielight, and telephone wires, 3cr-leading out at different points to houses, stores, or hotels. rIhesc wires are laid or embedded in the same insulating material, consisting of an asphaltic concrete, composed, substantially, ofasphaltic cement and silica, and possessing those qualities requisite for an insulating underground conduit. \Vhen the box 4 is being filled with theasphaltic concrete, au I-rail,1t), islaidceutrally therein, with its upper surface exposed and liush with the surf-.Lee of the compressed concrete. This rail forms the conductor for the electrical energy. f

Upon one end ofthe ear is centrally mounted a spring-arm, 1l., outhe end of which is journaled a roll, 12, both the arm and the roll having goed conductivity. The elasticity of the former is such as to preserve complete contact between the roller and the I -rail, and the current is carried to the motor by a wire, 13, held to the arm 1l by a binding-post.

Upon the opposite end of the car, or at any suitable point, are mounted two elastic conductingarms,14, of similar construction, each IOO carrying metallic rollers 15, and arranged at such distance apart that said rollers shall rest upon the flanges 7. These rollers are connected by Wires l'with the inotor 3 in such manner that they receive the electrical energy after it has passed through the motor and conduct 1t to the flanges of the box, whereby it is returned to the place of generation. Asamodification of this construction, I may sink the trough or box 4 beneath the surface, as seen in Fig. 3, and form an open channel, 17, in the roadway over the I-rail 10, insulation against lateral contact being effected by lining the Vertical sides of the channel with wooden strips-IS. In such case the wheel l2 will drop into the channel and lie uponthe rail, the construction beiiig in other respects the saine, except tliat the retu r11-circuit, ifdesired, be made by means of the rails of the road. In order to keep the exposed surface of the rail 10 free from accumulation of dirt or otliei' foreign matter, a brush, l5), is mounted upon the forward end ofthe car in such manner as to bear upon the rail and remove such matter from it, leaving it clear forthe contact of the wheel l2. l prefer to make the conducting-rail l() of copper, though other metals may be used, the size in cross-section being proportioned to the desired power and to the conductivity Vof the metal used. IThe asphaltic concretein which the rail is embedded should be laid at ateniperaturc not less than 200O Fahrenheit, and should be perfectly compressed. The box 4 may, as shown, be laid centrally with relation to the rails, or it may be laid beside one of them. The -rail may be duplicated for J be used, instead of rolls, to take up and Ieturii the electrical energy.

In Letters Patent No. 293,214-, granted to ine the 12th day of February, 1384-, for an improvement in asphaltic concrete conduits the manner of preparing and laying the insulating material in which the I rail is embedded is fully described. As I have already mentioned, the insulating material in which the conducting-rail and other electrical conductors are embedded must be of a character to withstand the severe wear to which it is subjected by the traffic of large cities. The comparatively indestructible character of the asplialtic concretel I employ for this purpose is clearly shown by the fact that substantially the saine material patented to nie the 14th day of January, 1578, has been in constant use upon the principal thoroughfares of Vashington city for eight years past without material deterioration.

It will be seen that my invention conteiiiplates a twofold purpose-via, the mechanical anchoring of the conducting-rail in such manner that it shall not be displaced and the insulation of the saine. I effect both of these the return-circuit, Vand brushes-niaobjects by laying the rail in soft eement,which is then allowed to set, whereby it is held in place with great strength and firmness, and at the same time fully insulated. I do not,there fore, limit my present invention to any especial composition of cement, provided only that it is of proper insulating character and possesses such a degree of strength and durability as to render it capable of use for the purpose.

Heretofore a conducting-rail has been laid in a street-railway and partly embedded therein, the head of the rail projecting above the surface. In this construction, however, the rail isdescribcd as being fairlyWinsulatcd only, and the material in which it is laid is not an asphaltic non conducting cement. Moreover, with a rail having the head raised above the surface there is some obstruction of the roadway as far as relates to the passage of teams. In my invention the conducting-rail is wholly embedded and covered,save as to its tread, in a non-conducting eement,which not only insulates it, but serves as a smooth, hard, and comparatively indestructible roadway, which affords complete insulation, together with convenience of travel.

l. The conibinatioii,\.vith a body of cement, of a coiidueting-rail insulated thereby and wholly embedded therein, save as toits upper surface, which is exposed, substantially as described.

2. An electric conductor for motors for railway-cars, consisting of a conducting-rail, a non-conducting body of asplialtic concrete in which said rail is buried, andan insulated metallic box containing said concrete and serving for the return-circuit, substantially as described.

3. An electric conductor for motors for railway-ears, consisting of a rail embedded in a non-conducting body of asphaltic cement, an insulated iron box containing said concrete, a wheel mounted on the car andi'un ning on the conductiiig-rail,and wheels also carried by the ear and ruiming on the flanged edges of the insulated box, said wheels being connected with the motor to take up the energy from the iail and return it through the box, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a body of asplialtic cement, of a conducting-rail embedded therein save as to its upper surface, and a conducting wheel or brush moving upon said exposed surface, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

f \VM. W. AVERELL.

Titnessesz l JAMES L. N oRRis, J. A. RUTHERFORD.

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